DAILY LOBO new mexico
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December 5, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Garcia wants to return to campus by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
For one former UNM president, reinstatement “would be a wonderful holiday gift.” F. Chris Garcia, who faced charges of promoting prostitution in 2011, said that although he is not yet planning to file a formal letter of reinstatement to the University any time soon, he expects UNM to restore all his privileges on campus as a faculty member. “In fact, this was supposed to be a temporary situation,” he said. “The suspension should be shortterm. It’s been two and a half years now. I think this now seems long term. At some point, I would like to have all my privileges as a professor emeritus restored at UNM.” In June 2011, Albuquerque Police Department arrested Garcia, 71, along with UNM professor David Flory and five other people who managed the site Southwestcompanions.com, an alleged online prostitution ring. But in January, the New Mexico Supreme Court stated that no state law prohibited running the website, since according to state law, prostitution can only occur in a physical location, not in cyberspace, and dismissed the case. Last month, the Second District Judicial Court ruled that authorities should return Garcia’s seized property because all investigations regarding the case have concluded. Garcia said that according to his letter of suspension from thenUNM President David Schmidly, his suspension should be temporary. He said that because all investigations have finished and because he was acquitted of charges, he expects the University to make the first move toward his reinstatement. “I have not heard from the University of New Mexico,” he said. “If this is a temporary and short-term suspension, which I was to believe it is, I think some action from the University ending this suspension ought to be forthcoming.” Robert Gorence, the lawyer who handled Garcia’s case, said that to be reinstated, Garcia needs to express a formal desire to do so to UNM. Gorence said he will not be directly involved with the reinstatement process, although he will be willing to help Garcia. “He may write a letter to the president at some point,” Gorence said. “I believe that’s all that’s required requesting the president for reinstatement of all his privileges.” But according to a statement from UNM President Robert Frank, the University has not contacted Garcia about reinstatement because Garcia had not yet sent a request letter. “We have not received any official correspondence from F. Chris Garcia requesting action on the part of the University or asking
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for clarification of his status, so at this point it remains unchanged,” Frank said. Frank said that with the court ruling last month, Garcia’s office property has been returned to the University. UNM will carry out further investigation “from the perspective of the University’s policies, ethics and our codes of conduct” before deciding with the regents whether to grant Garcia’s reinstatement, Frank said. Although Garcia’s case was dropped and he was not charged with any crime, Frank said he is “deeply concerned about the negative impact” of Garcia’s reinstatement to the University. “Regardless of the outcome of the criminal case, F. Chris Garcia’s significant lapse in judgment in associating with a website that facilitated the exchange of sex for money, the extensive media coverage surrounding this case and his recent engagement of the media through letters and interviews continue to put the name of this University in a damaging light,” Frank said. “As president of UNM — an institution that serves young women and men — it is my responsibility to make every effort to safeguard the reputation of our University.” Garcia said that foremost, he wants the University to lift its ban on his visits to campus facilities. “I will not ask for an office,” he said. “I will not ask for a teaching contract. But I do want the other privileges that were temporarily suspended. The one that’s most bothersome to me is that ex-President Schmidly requested that I would not go on to campus. We have an open campus. Any person can come from right across the street. To be told that I am not welcome … is particularly vindictive.” As it stands, Garcia can only visit campus with prior approval from Frank and from UNMPD Chief Kathy Guimond. A designated person would also be required to accompany him if his requests for visits were authorized. Despite his campus ban, the former president also retains his professor emeritus status at the University. Garcia said he also continues to receive retirement pensions as part of the Education Retirement Act, but he declined to identify the exact amount. Garcia said he is hopeful that UNM will reinstate him soon. He said he apologizes to the University community about the scandal that he caused. “I apologize for any embarrassment that the allegations caused to UNM,” he said. “I spent 48 years at UNM — seven as a student and 41 as a faculty and staff. I love the University of New Mexico and again feel good about my affiliation with the University. This would be a good time of the year for it to happen.”
thursday
LOS POETAS CHICANOS
Aaron Sweet / @AaronCSweet/ Daily Lobo Carlos Contreras, a UNM professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, entertains the audience with a poem Wednesday night at the National Hispanic Cultural Center during the Chicana and Chicano Studies Literacy Project Symposium. The presentation was an exhibition of works including spoken-word performances, art installations and visual presentations. Elsa Menéndez, who works for the National Hispanic Cultural Center, said the center has many programs and events open for the public including artist exhibitions and immersion-style Spanish classes.
Court stops required flu shots by Stephanie Hoover news@dailylobo.com @StephCHoover
UNM Hospital employees will not have to receive mandatory flu shots — for now. On Tuesday, the Second District Judicial Court granted a temporary stay of disciplinary action with regard to employees’ complaint about UNMH’s implementation of mandatory flu shots. Under the preliminary injunction, employees cannot be disciplined or terminated for not receiving a flu shot. The stay will protect employees until the UNM Labor Management Relations Board hearing on Dec. 12. Bill Browne, administrative director for District 1199 NM, a local union of hospital workers that led the complaint, said he agrees with the court’s decision and hopes the board will support employees’ rights to bargain. “We think it was the proper thing to do, because, again, we still believe they have to negotiate the terms and conditions,” he said. “Something like this is a mandatory subject of bargaining.”
Employees were informed of the policy through a memo sent late September, stating they needed to be vaccinated by Dec. 1. The litigation has been going on for over a month now. District 1199 NM filed the Prohibitive Practices Complaint against UNMH after employees were informed of the policy. In early November, employees filed a complaint to the labor board about the new mandatory policy, stating that UNMH should have negotiated with employees about the shot because it is a change in their contract. Later that month, UNMH issued a counterstatement to the board upholding the new rule. This is the first year UNMH has required influenza immunizations. If the labor board decides to side with UNMH, employees will still have 10 days to become compliant with the policy. John Arnold, the director of news and multimedia services for UNMH, said the hospital already has a 95 percent flu vaccination rate among employees. He said that in 2012, only 65 percent of employees were vaccinated.
“Our goal remains to be to keep our patients and our employees safe, and we think we’ve achieved that with this high immunization rate,” Arnold said. “That was the goal of the policy, to increase that rate, with our patient safety and our employee safety in mind.” Browne said the union recognizes the need for vaccinations and is not against them. It just hopes to have more bargaining rights, he said. “We feel that we have other options that would allow the hospital to proceed with a well thought out flu vaccination program,” Browne said. “(One) that doesn’t infringe on the employees personal belief system and possible health concerns, while still protecting the community and their fellow employees.” Browne said he wished that UNMH had been more inclusive in its original discussions to make the vaccine mandatory. “I wish we could avoid all this,” he said. “If they were upfront and honest with the union, we could have worked all these things out.”
UNM’s Board of Regents will hold a meeting from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday in Scholes Hall’s Roberts Room. The board will conduct an “Innovate ABQ Examination,” which will include looking at the economics of the project, purchasing contracts, the legal structure and private
participation, according to a notice from UNM. But Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of UNM’s Science and Technology Corporation, said that while Innovate ABQ will be the main focus of the meeting,
Regents to probe Innovate ABQ by Chloe Henson
assistant-news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 Innovate ABQ, already more than one year in the making, might take a bigger step forward by the end of this week.
Lobos defeat NMSU
Crafting cookies
see Page 2
see Page 8
see Innovate PAGE 3
TODAY
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